I can't think of a title just now...
by Draconia
Summary: Here are three chapters of my title-less series thing. Summary: Niomi is betrothed to Joren... la la la la la... stuff happens, and then more stuff. I suck at summaries, just read it!
1. Chapter 1

To the reader: Some of these characters are made up by me, others are owned by Tamora Pierce. Don't sue me, I'm a kid and I've only got a 4 dollar allowance! And by the way, Niomi is pronounced "NIGH-oh-ME." Oh yeah, sorry to all you people who think that Joren should be the villain, because he isn't, BUT, he does get insulted a lot, so I hope that make you happy! Argh, one other thing, whenever things are in brackets ( ), it means I, as the author is talking to you, usually pointing out something funny. Thank you, enjoy!  
  
Lady Niomi of Landerfalls had an honour to uphold. She had duties to her people. She had to gain wealth for her people. She had to gain anything for her people. But she was not going to marry Joren of Stone Mountain.  
She'd never even met the young man. He was seventeen years old, she was sixteen. Her family had had a marriage treaty with Stone Mountain since Niomi's birth. The girl hadn't even found out about it until she was fifteen! She had refused to go to the Royal Palace to meet Joren, and was so very persistent that the footman had to manually remove her from the manor and sit her in the coach with her stuffy parents. She kicked and screamed and even tried to jump out the window, but they somehow managed to get her all the way to Corus and into the Royal Palace.   
Her ladies-in-waiting crooned and fussed over her, helping her dress, doing her hair and putting on face-paint. Niomi was very pretty without all that, but her aunt said it was protocol. Niomi said it made her look like a clown. At least it's not pink, she thought gloomily when she looked at her green and pale yellow dress in the mirror. She hated pink with a passion.  
Niomi had midnight black hair, which fell down to her waist when it wasn't curled and pinned. Her eyes were emerald-green, like the Gift she held within. Her skin was pale, and, no matter how long she spent in the sun, would not tan. She also had a spray of freckles across her nose and cheeks. She was very pretty.  
The girl walked around the palace with one of her ladies-in-waiting, who knew the place off by heart. When they came to the practice courts, where the squires were training, Niomi saw him.  
He was the handsomest boy she'd ever seen in her life. He had hair so blonde that it was nearly white. He had rosy, unblemished skin and slightly feminine lashes. But he was much too muscular to be a girl, and a masculine build. She leaned against the railing and watched. He was very good at fencing. But suddenly all the other boys started moving in around him and the boy he was practising with. Boy?  
  
  
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Niomi leaned even closer. She peered at the youth the handsome boy was practising with. That was definitely not a boy. She had too many womanly features. Though her light brown hair was cut short, she had full, girlish lips. A sprinkle of freckles went across her cheeks and nose. The girl was very tall, about half an inch shorter than the handsome boy. Niomi knew instantly that this had to be Keladry of Mindelan.  
The girl suddenly noticed that they were closing a wall around Keladry and the very handsome boy. Niomi didn't see anymore. She decided it was just some sort of formation in practising. Her lady-in-waiting called her to view the rest of the palace.  
  
It was afternoon. She had seen nearly all of the palace, except, of course, uninteresting things like the servant's, squire's and pages wings, and the knights-in-training's classes. Niomi, on the other hand, thought it would be interesting to see where the pages and squires learnt to be knights, but her lady-in-waiting said that 'they'd seen the fencing court and that was enough'. The girl just decided she'd go and see them some other time, when there was no other ladies around.  
But that was the problem. All afternoon, Niomi saw the palace, and sat and weaved. Tablet weaving was one of the most boring and tedious exercises in the world. Indeed, Niomi actually fell asleep in her chair which was 'Uncommonly unladylike!'.  
Lunch was served. She was starving. She had wanted to eat in the Mess Hall and see all the pages and squires, but her mother said that it could wait until dinner. Niomi sighed and ate her soup quickly, she had wanted to see the stables.  
Stables, though incredibly dull to the unimaginative eye, were amazingly interesting. Actually, Niomi just wanted to see the horses. She peeked in. No humans were there. She was still awed by the fact that she had managed to escape the ladies. Niomi held out her hand to each horse, giving them each a sugar-lump or two. Eventually, she came to an enormous gelding. He was beautiful, even though he looked very mean. "Wow," she murmured. "You are magnificent."  
He snorted as though Niomi had just stated the openly obvious. She smiled and gingerly handed him a sugar-lump. At her she thought he was going to bite her, but then the horse seemed to think better of it when he saw the treat and took the sugar instead. Niomi decided not to pet him just yet, but instead leaned near his stall and just talked to him.  
"Hello," said a learned voice behind her. Niomi gasped, jumped, and turned to see who was there. It was that handsome boy she had saw fencing with Keladry. He was even prettier up close. She saw that his eyes were a light shade of blue, and that he had very white teeth. "I am Joren of Stone Mountain." He bowed.  
Niomi's jaw dropped, but just for a second. She curtsied. "I am Niomi of Landerfalls," she said, smoothing out her slightly plain, green gown. This was the man she was betrothed to! He was so handsome. Bleah, she thought, I sound just like my cousin. She smiled.  
Joren looked startled and enamoured at the same time. It was a funny look on him, but made him no less good-looking. "Ah, Lady Niomi, I believe we are betrothed. What a great honour it is, I have been longing to meet you for the longest time." He bowed again. Niomi did not curtsy, but nodded and smiled slightly again. A bell rang somewhere. "Oh, my highest apologies, but I must get to the Mess Hall. Will you be eating there for dinner?"  
"Er, yes, I supposed I will be," Niomi murmured. He offered his arm.  
"May I escort you there, then?" She was about to refuse, then remembered the gods damned protocol. That wasn't what made her accept his arm, though. It was the memory of the angry face of her mother. She'd been sentenced to an entire week of nothing but weaving the last time she'd been rude to a suitor. She now wondered why her father had even allowed the suitors, if she had been betrothed to Joren of Stone Mountain all her life. Probably just to annoy her.  
  
Two boys met them at the Mess doors. "Hello. These are my squire friends, Garvey of Runnerspring and Vinson of Genlith," Joren introduced. "And this," he said admiringly, nodding to the girl, "is Lady Niomi of Landerfalls, my betrothed." Joren let go of her arm and she curtsied, (whoops, I almost put that Joren curtsied!!! Lol!) but did not take his arm again. "Oh, yes, I forgot, I guess I will see you later on this evening," he said and went off into the noisy Mess with his friends, whom were giggling stupidly until Joren shoved them into each other. Niomi raised her eyebrows and rushed off to find her mother. (What's that, Joren upholding a lady's honour? What has become of him?!?!)  
  
Her mother, of course, was very angry that she ran off by herself, and Niomi was not about to tell her that she had gone to the stables, or that she had met her suitor, because then all the other ladies would started telling their horribly soppy love-stories, and Niomi didn't think she could take it.  
She followed her parents to the Mess Hall. They were going to sit with Lord Wyldon, the training master. Niomi was truly surprised, she'd thought that "children" were not allowed to sit with him. Of course, she was hardly a child, already betrothed! So that must have been why she was allowed. She didn't really want to, of course, because then she'd be up in front of all the pages and squires, which would be embarrassing.  
Her mother, unfortunately, wanted Niomi to look elder too. She had had a beautiful gown made for her daughter. It was green and cream-white. First, Niomi had to put on the corset, then the petticoats, and then the shirt, then the skirt, then the over dress. She felt very funny, like a clown. Her mother even insisted she wear the creamy-white gloves that went all the way up to the elbows. The girl might have been thankful that the dress was low-cut, because she was already boiling, but this just made her uncomfortable. She sighed and continued trailing her parents.  
This time they came in through a different door. Lord Wyldon stood when they entered and so did all the boys. There were quite a few, Niomi saw. The training master said the prayer. "So mote it be," she whispered when it was over. She scanned the tables of boys. Joren was sitting wit his two friends, whom Niomi had thought complete idiots, and another Bazhir boy with a proudly arched nose, but rather menacing eyes. Joren caught her eye and waved a little. Niomi smiled politely and nodded. Vinson and Garvey started to giggle again, so Joren hit them. What a wonderful friend, she thought as she scanned the crowds again.  
Way at the back, Niomi saw Keladry of Mindelan again. She was sitting with a very tall, muscular, redheaded boy, a smaller boy with red hair, a chubby little fellow with curly brown hair and a few other boys. They looked a cheerful group. Another boy was sitting with them, but he looked much too old to be a squire. He seemed about nineteen years old or so. He was quite handsome. He had light brown hair, swept back from a widow's peak. He was very tall, too.  
Niomi began to eat the food which had been piled onto her plate. She tried not to dirty the gloves she wore, which would upset her mother. She saw Joren whispering to the Bazhir boy proudly, grinning, and nodding to Niomi. She groaned inwardly. He was parading her! She hated when people did that. Her mother did it once in a while, too. It made her feel very uncomfortable.  
  
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Okay, that's it for now. If I get at least four reviews, I'll post some more. I've got quite a bit of the story written already, I'm just posting it in parts. Did you like it?! Tell me! Oh yeah, sorry that Joren wasn't insulted much at all, he'll be degraded a lot more in the next few parts if I actually post them. 


	2. Default Chapter Title

To the reader: Some of these characters are made up by me, others are owned by Tamora Pierce. Don't sue me, I'm a kid and I've only got a 4 dollar allowance! And by the way, Niomi is pronounced "NIGH-oh-ME." Oh yeah, sorry to all you people who think that Joren should be the villain, because he isn't, BUT, he does get insulted a lot, so I hope that make you happy! Argh, one other thing, whenever things are in brackets ( ), it means I, as the author is talking to you, usually pointing out something funny. And last time, in the reviews, someone kind of guessed what I was trying to do with Joren. No, Niomi is not going to kick his ass. Well.... anyway, Thank you, enjoy! One more thing, can someone help me come up with a title?! Oh yeah, sorry, but the word-processer thingy that I'm using doesn't make italics, so just imagine them. (Suddenly misty and mysterious voice...) I-m-a-g-i-n-e! Okay, read now.  
  
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After dinner, she dressed in a thinner, light green dress. (Yes, I know, she likes green! All right already!) The skirts were only slightly flouncy, and the top was quite loose, so she could breathe. She didn't need a corset, Niomi had decided she was sick of them. The hems were embroidered neatly with dark green thread. In her black hair, a lady-in-waiting had placed a small, shiny, green glass ornament, which looked a bit like an emerald. The girl decided to go to the library.  
She loved to read. It was one of her hobbies that her parents actually allowed. It seemed that every corner she turned there was someone there deliberately trying to bother her!  
First, she ran into a group of chattering court ladies. They sounded a lot like a bunch of bickering hens. They tried to invite Niomi for tea, but she outright refused. A lady-in-waiting spotted her and tried to make her go back and get into something "Decent." Niomi had to actually run to get away. The lady-in-waiting, thinking it incredibly unladylike to run in such a fashion, just called in a high, whining voice until Niomi was out of sight. Panting, the girl rested against the wall for a moment, trying to catch her breath. It had been a very long hall to run, and rather difficult to get out of sight.  
And then, one of the people she didn't altogether want to see at the moment turned up. Joren and his cronies seemed to pop out of nowhere. "ARGH!" Niomi screamed inwardly.  
"Ah, hello there milady. We were just about to have a practice fencing round. Would you like to accompany us and watch?"  
"Er, no thank you Joren, I, uh, really must be somewhere at this minute, you see, um, maybe another time," Niomi stuttered. Joren was very handsome, and every time she saw him, her heart seemed to skip a beat, though whenever he wasn't around, and her thoughts trailed to him, she pondered at what an odd fellow he was. He must be one of those men who had that affect on girls.  
"Oh, well, that's okay then, milady. I am quite sorry to bother you," said Joren, flashing a white-toothed smile. "Come along then, Vinson, Garvey. To the practice courts!" His friends started to giggle. Not wanting to hit them in front of Niomi, he tried to hurry them along. Garvey looked at Niomi, and she stared crossly back at him. He stopped guffawing immediately. So did Vinson. The girl was known for her piercing stares. Then again, they are idiots, she thought. Joren poked his cronies along and they were gone at last.  
She turned into the library. A group of squires were studying at a large table. They seemed familiar, and then Niomi remembered. This was the group that were at the back of the squire's table in the Mess. And there was Keladry of Mindelan, with her friends! And also, that tall boy who Niomi had thought too old to be a squire. She liked the look of him. His eyes, she saw from where she stood, were a dancing green. They were much more welcoming than Joren's cold, steely blue eyes.  
Niomi moved silently by the bookshelves, not wanting to bother the squires. She had the urge to go and introduce herself, but decided against it, remembering how annoying it had been back at home, where visiting nobles popped out of nowhere and started to chatter. She saw a shelf with books all about dragons. She really did love dragons, though she'd never seen one up close. Niomi had heard that there was a dragon somewhere in the castle, but when she mentioned this to her mother, the reply came; "Such silly ideas will get you nowhere in life, dear." As if her life could go more nowhere than it already was!  
The girl chose a book called "Famous Dragonnes Worldewide", which included much information on draconian battles and well-known hoards. She took the old novel and sat down at one of the smaller, round tables to read. The book was very interesting, and even included a painting of a dragon's skeleton, which must of taken forever to complete.  
About half an hour later, Joren came into the library with his two "friends". Keladry's group and Niomi stood up immediately. There was a very long, awkward pause, in which no one moved and not even breathing could be heard. It seemed as though the studying squires had not noticed Niomi before.  
"Oh, hello Joren," she said after a while, and smiled. "I was just, er, reading." She held up the ancient book.  
"About dragons?" Garvey's voice voice was highly sceptical. "What for?"  
"For... Reading, was else? Anyway, I ought to be going to my chambers now. I guess I'll be seeing you later, then," she said and left the room, thinking, You'd think he'd catch on by now that I'm avoiding him! Stupid git.  
  
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Late at night, a candle flickered in Niomi's room. She wasn't really supposed to light a candle, but she needed to see to get dressed. She pulled on a light clothed, dark maroon gown. It did not flounce in the skirts, and the top was not tight, but there was a thich sash. There was no embroidery at the hems, and she wore no jewellery with it, not even a ring. She had switched her high-heeled, lady's shoes for thin-soled, soft boots that went halfway up to her knees. She took the candle and crept out the door, unknowingly being watched by someone, or something, lurking in the shadows...  
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HA HA! I'm gonna leave it here, and all you readers will just have to wait for me to write the rest! By the way, the shadow lurking character, it isn't who you think. Go ahead and try to guess in the reviews, but you'll never guess. Muahahahaha!!!  
Well, bye. 


	3. Default Chapter Title

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To the reader: Some of these characters are made up by me, others are owned by Tamora Pierce. Don't sue me, I'm a kid and I've only got a 4 dollar allowance! And by the way, Niomi is pronounced "NIGH-oh-ME." Oh yeah, sorry to all you people who think that Joren should be the villain, because he isn't, BUT, he does get insulted a lot, so I hope that make you happy! Argh, one other thing, whenever things are in brackets ( ), it means I, as the author is talking to you, usually pointing out something funny.   
BY THE WAY: No one guessed who the shadow-lurking character is, I don't think. It's most un-obvious, since I haven't set any clues yet. You'll find out soon... Read on!!! But one more thing: here's some clues, see if ya'll can guess who it is before reading this part: clue #1, someone or SOMETHING; clue #2 (this is probably gonna give it away) remember the books.  
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As Niomi crept along the halls, she felt as though she was being watched. Once in a while she would think she saw glinting in the darkness, and a strange, eerie feeling of an intelligent force. Every time she heard the slightest noise, even just the quiet tapping of her own feet, she'd leap into the shadows, then suddenly realize that it had been only she herself, or the raging storm outside, and continue along.  
Finally, Niomi came to her destination. Since she could not sleep, the girl had discovered that she was starving, and that was the reason. She opened the kitchen door, trying to be as quiet as possible. Instead, it creaked loudly, making her grit her teeth and step inside. Because she had not wanted to make the noise again, she left the door open.  
Niomi was sure she'd just seen something move, and then decided it had just been her imagination. She took the flint stones (no not the cave men) and lit a candle on the table. The flame made the shadows dance against the walls, which gave Niomi another eerie feeling that made goose-bumps appear on her skin.  
She shuffled around the palace kitchen, getting food and drink out. Then she made a small sandwich and poured a goblet of milk. Niomi sat down at the heavy wooden table and ate her little snack quietly. Then when she had finished, and was about to leave after putting the dishes in the large water basin to be washed in the morning...  
A creak and thump sounded behind her. Someone had shut the door. The girl flipped around. And standing there was...  
A dragon.  
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The creature cocked its head to the side. It was light blue with slanted, intelligent eyes. The thing let out a shrill whistle and proceeded over to the girl, whom backed away. Silly mortals, it thought. The girl suddenly planted herself firmly, hands on her hips.  
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"Excuse me," said Niomi to the dragon. "But I'll have you know that I am not at all silly. And you should mind your manners."  
You can hear me? the dragon inquired.  
"Of course I can hear you," said the girl. "It's as plain as anything. Should I not be able to hear you?"  
It's odd, the dragon said. I've never met a girl, either than Daine of course, who could understand dragons. Daine can't even understand me yet, though I think she's beginning to. By the way, my name is Skysong, but you can call me Kitten. Everyone else does. And I'm not an it, I'll have you know, but am quite female.  
"I didn't call you an 'it'", Niomi said.  
No, but you were thinking it, the dragon remarked as she trotted over to the mortal. The girl sat down and held out her fingers to the beautiful creature.  
"So you know what I'm thinking," said the girl. "Just as I know what you're thinking. How odd."  
Not really, said Kitten. I think it's a form of Wild Magic, except, with Immortals. You may very well be an Immortal.  
"I highly doubt that," she said. "I never thought you'd be so intelligent."  
What do you mean?  
"Well, I mean, aren't you a bit young? The books say that it'll be a few centuries before you're mature."  
Yes, well, it isn't often they hear young dragons, is it? I do believe you are the only mortal who can. Anyway, I must be off, before Daine misses me. I hope to see you again, Niomi.  
And with that, the dragon was gone in a blink.   
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So, how was it? Sorry it was so short. Not who you expected, eh? And I apologize if you think Kitten's out of character, because, well, she is. But that's kinda the point, isn't it? Oh yeah, sorry about any spelling mistakes. I was thinking of a title... but not sure if it'll fit. Anyway, gimme a title in the reviews (A GOOD ONE) or else... Or else.... Or else I won't post anymore. Muahahahaha! I lvoe saying that. Cool power, to speak to dragons. I'll bet Daine would be jealous...  
ONE MORE THING: Someone witnessed the meeting between Niomi and Kitten. You'll guess you it is, I know you will, you smart bunch of people who are going to give me a title (OR ELSE!)   
Well, bye then. 


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